In Josef Koudelka’s Shu’fat Refugee Camp, we see a landscape that is very dramatically broken by the presence of a black, towering wall. The uncompleted wall begins in the central background towards the left of the image and ends close to the middle where it then spans the entire height of the image. The right side of the image contains elements of traditional village life with the presence of a rock wall and dirt road. The left side of the image feels more contemporary with the inclusion of power lines – technology. This central separation point creates a vivid contrast between the left and right sides of the image which is most likely done intentionally. The clashing colors of the subjects with the dark wall and the light ground also gives the wall added drama and characterizes it as a dark or “evil” figure. Relating to the content of the image, the wall is being built to enclose a refugee camp, thus it makes sense to depict it as a prominent, yet antagonistic piece of subject matter. The photographer, Josef Koudelka, a native to this region of Israel has been personally affected by what he referred to as the “iron curtain” which corroborates the reason why it is pictured dividing two halves, representing two worlds – freedom & imprisonment.
Koudelka, Josef. Shu’fat Refugee Camp, overlooking Al ‘Isawiya, East Jerusalem. We Make Money Not Art, https://we-make-money-not-art.com/josef-koudelka-invasion-exiles-wall/. Accessed September 6, 2023
Good thorough reading of the image and its content.